Steve's Real Blog

This is the fifth post in a series about my new app Oscillator Drum Jams. Start here in Part 1.

You can download Oscillator Drum Jams at oscillatordrums.com.

Earlier this year I learned that Garageband on my iPhone can do multitrack recording when I plug it into my 16-channel USB audio interface. This is an object less than 6 inches long handling tasks that would have required thousands of dollars of equipment twenty years ago, accessible to most teenagers today.

The audio system running on iPhones was designed in 2003 for desktop Macs running at around 800 MHz, slightly slower than the original iPhone’s processor. It’s a complex system, but the high level APIs are consistent and well-documented. As a result, there are many fantastic audio-related apps on the store: synthesizers, metronomes, music players, and toys that make music creation accessible to anyone. And because there’s a USB audio standard shared between iOS and macOS, there’s no need to install drivers.

I’m really grateful that I’m able to build on the work of past engineers to make Oscillator Drum Jams. It wasn’t easy, but I was ultimately able to ship it because the pieces already exist and can be plugged together by a single person working on occasional nights and weekends.

I’m also grateful that I got the opportunity to work on this project with Jake, whose passion and dedication to his music meant that we had over a hundred loops to share with the drum students of the world.